Fuse 2025 Speakers

Jonathon Haddad

Chairman & CEO, AIME

Jonathon Haddad is the Chairman and CEO of the Association of Independent Mortgage Experts (AIME). Jonathon joined the wholesale channel in 2019 with Next Door Lending, where he transitioned from Vice President to Managing Partner and President. Jonathon still continues to originate to ensure not to lose sight of what it takes to be successful, originating $20 million across 60 mortgage loans in 2023, with $800 million as Next Door Lending’s overall mortgage volume under his leadership.

After six years at one of the largest companies in retail, Jonathon made it to the Regional Vice President. Jonathon transitioned to the wholesale channel after recognizing its commitment to supporting homebuyers aligned with his own beliefs. In his 11 year career, Jonathon has helped facilitate over $5 billion in mortgage transactions, including both personal and team production.

Since joining AIME as CEO in 2024, Jonathon has utilized his high-level experiences working on both sides of the mortgage industry to best support, educate, and empower the entire mortgage broker community and homebuyers nationwide.

Jonathon’s mission is simple: help brokers close more loans. Haddad’s leadership is fully focused on providing tangible business support for the nation’s wholesale brokerages and implementing large-scale pro-broker awareness, so the entire homebuying industry knows that the future of mortgage is in independent mortgage brokers’ hands.

Mat Ishbia

President & CEO, UWM

Mat Ishbia is the President and CEO of United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) – the #1 mortgage lender in the nation, and owner of the Phoenix Suns and Mercury – the youngest owner in the NBA.

Prior to joining UWM, Mat played for Michigan State’s basketball team for four years – going to three Final Fours and winning the National Championship in 2000. He also spent one year coaching alongside Tom Izzo. His college basketball background, leadership style, and dedication to a team-focused approach have enabled him to rapidly grow UWM into a leading lending operation and build a championship ready NBA and WNBA organization.

Rapid growth at UWM, both in team members and production, has enabled them to make a substantial philanthropic impact on charities and non-profits both locally and nationwide. Using innovative platforms, UWM has empowered its team members and clients to donate to charities of their choosing, funded by UWM. These efforts at UWM in addition to new community focused initiatives in Phoenix, such as providing access for all local Phoenix fans to watch the Suns on TV are shining examples of the emphasis Mat places on people – team members and the community.

Mat is quickly becoming known within the NBA and WNBA as a dedicated advocate for the players, the team, and the community. This has long been his legacy within the mortgage industry as the most prominent advocate for mortgage brokers nationwide. He is often asked to join hosts on CNBC, Fox Business, Good Morning America, Yahoo! Finance, and Bloomberg TV to provide his perspective on the mortgage market and now is evaluating his vision for the Suns and Mercury organizations through these same platforms. He has been honored throughout his career with various awards including HousingWire Vanguard award twice and was recognized in 2021 by Ernst and Young as one of their Entrepreneurs of the Year.

Neel Dhingra

CEO, Forward Academy (IG: neelhome)

Neel is a content marketing expert who exploded his mortgage business by creating content that gets results on social media. He also is the founder of Forward Academy, where he helps over 1000 Real Estate & Mortgage Pros learn how they can do the same. Neel hosts the annual Forward Event in Las Vegas, where LO’s and agents from all over the country come to learn the latest trends in marketing.

René Rodriguez

Best-Selling Author & Keynote Speaker

Considered by many as the leading authority on leadership and influence, René Rodriguez is a best-selling author, keynote speaker, leadership advisor, and transformational speaker coach. For the last 27 years, René has been researching and applying behavioral neuroscience to solve some of the toughest challenges in leadership, sales, and change.

As an entrepreneur and CEO of multiple companies, René integrates a practical business approach that inspires his audiences to take action. Through his keynote, boot camps,

workshops and proprietary AMPLIFII™ course, he helps us own our backstory to build the frame for not only our unique value propositions but also a beautiful picture of life.

His audiences describe him as “powerful”, “thought-provoking”, and “authentic”. They say things like, “you could hear a pin drop as everyone was so captivated.” The result: greater influence, personal transformation, and immediate results in business and life by engaging with courage and grace.

He is the author of WSJ Best Selling Book, Amplify Your Influence, which was selected as a Best Business Book 2022 by Summary.com.

René has also shared the stage with Ed Mylett, Tony Robbins, Jon Gordon, Gary Vaynerchuk, Ryan Holiday, and many more.